I know it's tempting to refrain from directing Steemians to my blog which is not monetized - I blog because I just want to get information out there - because if you believe it adds value you won't be here to upvote it. But this morning I thought I'd direct you there anyhow with a Best of My Blog post, or should I say, a Most of My Blog post.
Here are the most:
Most Shared on Social Media: $100 to the First Person to Demonstrate the Early Church was Trinitarian - This being my most shared post at 431 shares on Facebook tells me people really want others to understand the truth I am sharing. Why this issue? Because I think many people have experienced a rigid orthodoxy in churches where you can't even be an official member unless you ascribe to the Doctrine of the Trinity, much less be a minister or be sent out as a missionary - as I attempted to do for many years. Ironically this is done in churches which claim the Protestant tradition of Sola Scriptura - Bible Only - where it is believed the Bible is the sole authority in matters of faith yet you don't have the freedom to disagree with a series of church councils that happened between 325 AD (Council of Nicaea) and 787 AD (2nd Council of Nicaea). I think after reading this article people realize we should have the freedom to believe whatever the church (including Jesus and his apostles) was teaching prior to those councils, even if it was contrary to those councils. The councils are not the final authority, and should not be in a Protestant church which believes the Bible is our final authority. If we are going to believe that the councils, aka the Church, have the final authority in our spiritual lives then we are right back at being Catholics and the Protestant Reformation was all for naught.
Most Shared as a Percentage of How Many Have Read It: Salvation by Being Good - This article was shared 228 times on Facebook while being viewed only 423 times, so over half of those who read it share it. This tells me this article really strikes a chord among Christians who have been struggling with the idea that God would send good people to Hell, as is taught in many churches. This article lays out a biblical case for believing that God judges mankind based on conduct, not beliefs, and will eventually be the first chapter in a book by the same title. Read it now while it's still free! Later blog posts which will become chapters will discuss the many reasons and interpretations of the Bible which lead people to believe it's only through faith in Christ that anyone can be saved.
Most Viewed Article: The Monster God of Calvinism - 15,131 views, thanks to Google. Apparently Google thinks I'm some kind of authority on this topic. I'm not, but I do think a lot of people are interested in Calvinism which is taught in about 10% of Christian churches which go by the name Reformed, or by other names such as Baptist, though not all Baptist churches are Calvinistic. There is one about six blocks from my house which calls itself the Freewill Baptist Church just so people don't think they are Calvinists. I'm glad Google is getting my article in front of 15,000 people because Calvinism I believe is the worst doctrine the church has ever created. Google is helping me to help others to get free from this grievous error.
While I'm at it I'll mention my Second Most Viewed Article which is Were Jesus and His Apostles Mistaken About Jesus’ Soon Return? at 8,100 views, thanks again to Google. The most searched for term for those who find my blog through Google is "Jesus is coming soon". A lot of people have been interested in the so-called End Times due to the popularity of books like The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and apocalyptic movies like the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye. Most Christians don't want to have to figure all this stuff out in the book of Revelation but many have been told that the return of Christ is in our future. Then they read many scriptures where it seems to be saying Christ would return shortly and are glad to learn that that is confirmed in almost all of the books of the New Testament. How, or in what manner, he returned, is still a question to be answered, but at least this serves as a good starting point to a different view of the End Times that isn't so, well, crazy.
If you read any of these articles please come on back here and share your insights with us. Please know you don't have to agree with me. I'm not going to shut you down if you don't. I don't appreciate when Christians try to shut me down so I won't do it to you.
